Dark Heart of Magic

by Jennifer Estep

  Startled, I glanced at Mo. Why would he tell Deah my mom’s name? If she told Victor and he put two and two together, then he would know that I was Serena Sterling’s daughter. He might also realize that I knew he’d murdered my mom, and my anonymity, my only protection from him, would be gone.

  Deah looked back and forth between Mo and me. “Is that name supposed to mean something to me?”

  Mo gave her a sad smile and shook his head. “Of course not. But Serena was an old friend of your mom’s. I was Seleste’s friend too—before she married your father.”

  He muttered the last few words, and Deah’s face tightened with even more anger.

  “Well, whoever your mom was, stay away from mine,” Deah snapped.

  “Don’t worry about that,” I snapped back. “That crazy lady is all yours.”

  Her hands clenched into fists, and her blue gaze slammed into mine, letting me feel all of her white-hot rage and how protective she was of her mom.

  “My mom is awesome,” Deah snarled. “She just happens to see the world a little differently from everyone else. But that doesn’t make her crazy, and it certainly doesn’t give you or anyone else the right to make fun of her. So why don’t you keep your snotty opinions to yourself.”

  I held up my hands. I wasn’t going to argue with her anymore. There was no point in it. Besides, she was right. I didn’t have the right to make fun of Seleste, and I was ashamed that I had. Mocking people was something that Blake always did, and I had zero desire to be anything like him.

  Deah glared at me another second, then stormed away.

  The second she was gone, I turned to Mo. “Why did you tell her Mom’s name? Why would you do that?”

  Mo tipped his white straw hat back on his head. “I know, I know, it was stupid. It’s just that I hadn’t seen Seleste in so long. Most of the time, Victor keeps her locked up in one of the towers in the Draconi castle. Besides, I wanted to give her and Deah some kind of explanation.”

  My eyes narrowed. “How do you know Seleste anyway?”

  He stared after the Draconis instead of looking me in the eye. “We used to be friends. Way back when we were about your age.”

  “Who was friends?”

  “Me, Claudia, Seleste, and your mom. Well, really, it was the girls who were tight. I was more friends with Serena than anyone else. And, of course, Claudia and I weren’t friends at all after we stopped dating.”

  My mouth dropped open. “You and Claudia dated?”

  “Yeah,” Mo said in a distracted voice. “For a while. Before she met Lawrence, Devon’s dad.”

  I’d always thought that Mo and Claudia had some past connection, but I never thought it was something like this. Calm, serious Claudia with cheery, boisterous Mo? I just couldn’t picture them together. But if they’d broken up way back when, it would explain the tension between them now.

  Mo kept staring in the direction that Seleste and Deah had gone, his eyes dark with memories and feelings he wouldn’t let me see. After several seconds, he shook his head, as if clearing the cobwebs of the past out of his mind, and plastered a smile on his face.

  “But that’s all over with now, kid. How about I buy you a funnel cake? With tons of powdered sugar, just the way you like it? You’re going to need a sugar buzz before the final matches start.”

  I frowned. Mo loved money as much as I did, and he never, ever offered to buy me anything unless he was trying to distract me. I wondered what had happened between him, my mom, Claudia, and Seleste, and why there was still so much secrecy and tension about it even now. But he’d changed the subject, which meant that the conversation was closed. Besides, I was never one to turn down free food.

  “Sure,” I said. “A funnel cake sounds great.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Mo and I went out into the fairgrounds, where he bought me the biggest funnel cake we could find. He started talking to some folks he knew from the Ito Family, and I finished my cake, murmured my excuses, and drifted away from him.

  I had some time before the final matches started, so I wandered through the fairgrounds, looking at all the cheesy carnival games, T-shirts, flags, and more. If it was cheap, tacky, and brighter than a flashing neon sign, you could buy it here. The vendors called out to me, hawking their wares and trying to get me to play their games, but I ignored them.

  I ended up on the edge of the fairgrounds, staring out toward the lake and trying to make sense of everything that had happened over the past few days, from the murdered tree trolls to Seleste’s strange behavior to all the secrets Mo wasn’t telling me.

  The deep blue of the water shimmered in the distance, but instead of concentrating on the pretty scene, I started walking along one of the cobblestone paths until I reached the tree line.

  My thoughts turned to Vance, and the image of his cut-up body filled my mind. I wasn’t anywhere close to where he had been murdered, but I still found myself peering through the branches, wondering who had killed him and why. Why had the killer taken Vance’s Talents instead of someone else’s, someone with much stronger magic? And how did all the murdered monsters fit into this? Or were they even connected to Vance at all?

  My mind spun around and around, trying to figure things out. But there were no answers to be found in the dappled shade of the woods, so I turned to head back.

  And that’s when I heard the giggles.

  Giggles? Out here in the woods?

  I was still wearing my sword, and my hand dropped to the weapon’s hilt, despite the seemingly innocent sounds. I crept a little closer to the trees, tilting my head to the side, listening and looking into the thin afternoon shadows. The crack-crack-crack of twigs crunching underfoot sounded, along with more giggles. Through the trees, I spotted two figures heading toward me.

  A second later, Blake stepped out of the woods about ten feet away from my position. And he wasn’t alone—Katia was with him.

  From their rumpled clothes and Katia’s messy hair, it was obvious what they’d been doing. They saw me at the same time I did them, and the three of us stopped and stared at each other.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I was just taking a walk before the tournament starts up again.”

  Blake snorted. “Sure you were. Or maybe you just like to watch, you freak.”

  He shoved past me, driving his shoulder into mine and nearly knocking me down, but I ground my teeth together and held my tongue. The tournament was supposed to resume in fifteen minutes, and I didn’t need to get into a fight with Blake right now.

  Katia pulled her dark red hair back into a ponytail and smoothed some of the wrinkles out of her white sleeveless shirt. Then she lifted her chin, marched over, and stopped in front of me.

  “Go ahead,” she said. “You look like you want to say something.”

  I shrugged. “It’s not really my place to say anything.”

  Her hazel eyes glittered, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Say it anyway.”

  I sighed. “I know you’re upset about Felix, but messing around with Blake won’t make you feel any better in the long run. Blake is not a nice guy.”

  She shrugged back at me. “Maybe I’m tired of nice guys. After all, Felix was a nice guy . . . until he wasn’t. Besides, how do you know what would make me feel better? You’re too chicken to even do anything with Devon.”

  I stiffened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Katia’s smile was full of sneering pity. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you, and you look the same way right back at him. But instead of actually doing something about it, you keep him at arm’s length. It’s stupid, if you ask me. Especially since he’s such a nice guy, right?” she mocked me with my own words.

  I ground my teeth together and didn’t say anything. There was nothing I could say because she was exactly right about me being scared of how much I cared about Devon. When it came to risking something as fragile as my heart, I was as skittish as a rockmunk facing down a copper crusher.


  Katia sighed, and some of the ugly tension drained out of her face. “Look, I appreciate you trying to warn me about Blake, but I know exactly what kind of guy he is, and I can take care of myself. Drunk dad, remember? Besides, Blake and I were just messing around. Nothing serious. It’s not like I think he actually cares about me or anything.” Her features hardened again. “I made that mistake with Felix. Trust me, I won’t make it again.”

  I didn’t respond.

  “Anyway, I’ve got to get back to the tournament, and so do you.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “See you over there.”

  Katia moved off, heading back toward the fairgrounds.

  I stood there for a few seconds, thinking about her harsh words, which hit a little too close to home. But I couldn’t do anything about them now, so I sighed, turned around, and followed her back to the fairgrounds to get ready for the final rounds of the Tournament of Blades.

  I had barely set foot back in the fairgrounds when Oscar came zipping through the air, stopping right in front of me.

  “There you are!” he practically shouted. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Come quick!”

  Oscar buzzed around and around my shoulders, trying to herd me toward the stadium.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked. “What’s happened? Has someone else been hurt?”

  Oscar shook his head, and his wings twitched in agitation. Even his tiny black cloak seemed to bristle with anger. “They shook up the tournament, flipped the brackets around and everything. That’s why you need to get over there right now.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean they flipped the brackets around?”

  “You’ll see,” he said in a dark tone.

  The pixie shooed me into the stadium. I thought that most of the Family higher-ups would be back in their boxes by now, including the Sinclairs, but Claudia, Reginald, Angelo, and Mo were standing by the chain-link fence, talking to the officials. Devon and Felix stood a few feet away, watching them.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, walking over to them. “Oscar said they changed the tournament.”

  Felix snorted. “Oh, they changed it all right—which is what Claudia and the others are arguing about with those idiots.”

  He stabbed his finger at the officials. Claudia was right up in their faces, her hands on her hips, her green eyes blazing with anger. I couldn’t hear exactly what she was saying, but her sharp tone let everyone know she wasn’t happy.

  Mo looked over at us and shook his head. Devon and Felix both sighed.

  “Good luck,” Felix said, clapping Devon on the shoulder, then turning and doing the same thing to me. “I know this will be tough. I’ll be rooting for both of you at the same time. No matter what happens, there won’t be a loser here today. You guys know that, right?”

  Devon nodded, but I was still confused.

  “How can you root for both of us at the same time—” Suddenly, I realized exactly what was going on.

  I’d been scheduled to fight Deah in the next round of the tournament, with Katia facing off against Devon. But the tournament had changed, and the brackets had been flipped—which meant I had to fight someone else now, and since there were only four of us left, that meant only one thing.

  “Oh,” I whispered. “Oh no.”

  “Oh no is right,” Oscar said, landing on one of the fence posts.

  I looked at Devon, but judging from his tense expression, he wasn’t any happier about this than I was. Because now, instead of fighting Deah next, I had to fight another Sinclair.

  I had to fight a member of my own Family.

  I had to fight Devon.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Claudia kept arguing with the officials, but it was obvious they’d already made up their minds, and this was happening.

  I looked at Devon. “I don’t want to fight you.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t want to fight you either, but this is what we have to do.”

  “But how did this even happen?”

  Felix stabbed his finger up at the Draconi box. “Apparently, his royal highness didn’t want you to be Deah’s next opponent, so he had a word with the officials and convinced them to shake up the brackets at the last minute. Claimed it would add more excitement to the tournament. We all know that Victor is just trying to make things easier for Deah. After all, she’s beaten Katia before, and you and Devon have both looked scary good during the tournament.”

  I frowned. “So he wants to give Deah a better chance of winning by having one of us Sinclairs knock the other out.”

  “You got it, cupcake,” Oscar said, glaring at the officials.

  I looked at Devon again. “So what are we going to do?”

  He straightened up to his full height, a determined look flaring in his eyes. “We’re going to fight. We’re going to show everyone that the Sinclair Family has two of the best fighters in Cloudburst Falls. And we’re going to do it honestly. No compulsion, no transference, no magic or Talents of any kind. Just you and me going sword to sword. No hard feelings no matter who wins. And whoever does win will kick ass in the final round and win the tournament. What do you say to that, Lila?”

  I grinned at him and stuck out my hand. “I’d say that you’ve got a deal, Sinclair. Winner take all.”

  “Winner take all, Merriweather.”

  Devon grinned back, and we shook on it.

  Despite all of Claudia’s arguments, the officials announced the change in the brackets to great applause from the crowd. Devon and I were up first, and we strode out to the middle of the stadium. It was just the two of us, standing in the center of the ring, facing each other down. It reminded me of the very first day I’d come to the Sinclair mansion, sparring with Devon as a test to see whether I was good enough to join the Family or not.

  The official introduced us and reviewed the rules before moving in, raising his hand, and starting the fight. Devon and I circled each other. This wasn’t the first time we’d fought, so we already knew all about each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies. But this match was for a spot in the final round, and we both knew what was at stake. Not only representing the Sinclairs well, but also having fun. Because there was nothing we both loved more than a good fight.

  Finally, Devon moved in, raised his sword, and began the battle in earnest. Back and forth, we danced across the stone ring, neither one of us able to touch each other with our weapons to draw first blood. All around us, cheers and yells exploded over and over again in a continuous roar that rattled from one side of the stadium to the other. The crowd wanted a fight? Well, they were getting a good one.

  A minute ticked by, then another one, and another. And still Devon and I fought, our blades clashing together over and over again, up high, down low, side to side to side, each one of us fighting as hard and fast as we could. The crowd noise faded away until it was a dull roar in the back of my mind, and the world reduced to Devon in front of me, his feet moving in elaborate patterns in the grass, his hand clenching the hilt of his sword, his green eyes narrowed in fierce concentration.

  I didn’t use any of my magic on him, not my transference power and not even my soulsight to try to anticipate his next move. I wanted to win fair and square, just me and him and our fighting skills, with no magic of any kind, just like we’d promised each other.

  So we fought and fought and fought, with the clash-clash and clang-clang-clang of our swords ringing out through the stadium, even louder than the crowd. At least, that’s how it seemed to me. My ponytail slapped against my shoulders, sweat streamed down my face, and my arms ached from swinging my sword over and over again, but I kept right on fighting, and so did Devon.

  Finally, though, Devon made a mistake.

  He got a little too close to the cold spring, and one of his feet slipped off the edge for a second before he managed to right himself. It was a small mistake, a tiny error, and could just as easily have happened to me, but it would give me the opening I needed three moves ahead, and I was going
to take advantage of it.

  One.

  Sure enough, Devon was late in bringing up his sword to block my next blow.

  Two.

  Then he was late again stepping back out of the way when I sliced out with my blade. He was barely parrying my blows, and he whirled away, trying to buy himself some space to get his timing back on track.

  Three.

  Devon faced me and raised his sword to attack me again, but I stepped back out of his reach and pointed my sword at him. Devon glanced down at the blood dripping down his bare arm.

  He bowed to me. “You win, Lila.” He straightened up and grinned. “I knew that you would.”

  The crowd went wild—hooting, hollering, and cheering—knowing they’d just seen the match of the tournament. Everyone surged to their feet, giving us a standing ovation and cheering louder and longer than they had for anyone else in the entire tournament.

  The official stepped into the stone ring and raised my hand high, declaring me the winner. Devon started to move back to give me the limelight, but I grinned, reached out, clasped his hand in mine, and pulled him up next to me.

  He grinned back at me and tightened his grip. Together, we raised our clasped hands high to the massive roar of the crowd. Devon looked at me, all the warmth in his eyes and heart reflected back in my own.

  Felix was right. Nobody had lost here today. As far as I was concerned, Devon and I had both won.

  Still hand in hand, Devon and I left the stadium floor and stepped behind the chain-link fence. We were swarmed and spent the next five minutes accepting backslaps, handshakes, and congratulations from the other competitors. Poppy and Felix finally muscled their way over to us, congratulating us as well, while Oscar buzzed around and around our shoulders.

  Finally, the stadium quieted again, and we turned to watch the match between Katia and Deah that would decide which of them I had to fight in the final round.